Union-coupling for lamps.



R. H. WELLES.

UNION COUPLING FOR LAMPS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.19, 1907. RENEWED NOV. 27, 190B.

Patented June 29, 1909.

UNITED STAIlES I ITENT onnron.

RICHARD II. WELLES, OF KENOSHA, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO TIIE BADGER BRASS MFG. 00., OF KENOSHA, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION 01 WISCONSIN.

UNION -COUPLING FOR LAMPS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 29, 1909.

Application filed. January 19, 1907, Serial No. 353,130. Renewed November 27, 1908. Serial No. 464,786.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RICHARD II. W'ELLEs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Kenosha, in the county of Kenosha and State of WVisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Union- Couplings for Lamps, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to carriage or vehicle lamps, and more especially to oil-burning carriage lamps; and has for its general obj ect to provide improved means for attaching the font to the hood or lens-box of the lamp.

In carriage lamps of usual constructions, the coengaging parts of the font and the lamp hood permit dust to work between them, and the dust becomes mixed with the oil which creeps between said parts. The vibration of the lamp, caused by the motion of the vehicle, causes a slight relative motion or slip between said coengagin g parts, which is increased by the grinding action of the dust and oil. The looseness is manifested by an unpleasant rattling of the lamp, which it is my particular object to prevent.

A further special object of the invention is to provide a lamp coupling that shall be as compact and short waisted as possible, that is to say, as short vertically as possible.

To these ends my invention consists in the matters hereinafter described and particu larly pointed out in the appended claims; and will be more readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a vertical section, on line 1-1 of Fig. 2, of a lamp construction embodying the invention, and Fig. 2 is a horizontal section, partly on line (L@ and partly on line bf) of Fig. 1.

1 indicates the bottom portion of the hood or lens-box of the lamp, and 2 is the body of the oilfont.

3 is a narrow, depending ring, secured in any suitable manner to the circular opening in the bottom of the hood. This ring is made preferably of medium heavy sheet metal. Its lower edge is turned inwardly, as shown at 4, thus forming an annular lip which enga es the latches to be described.

Secured to the top of the font 2, is an up standing ring or collar, 5, concentric with the burner, 6. The connection between this collar and the font is made oil-tight. Between the collar and the base of the burner I is an annular space or pocket 7, which collects any oil that may be spilled when filling, and keeps the oil from the outer surface of, the lamp.

The ring 5 is dimensioned to fit snugly over the coupling ring 3 of the hood, retains the spilled or overflowed oil, excludes dust from the inner parts, and conceals and protects the same. 'Therefore while this part is not an essential element of the coupling proper it serves a very useful purpose.

8 designates an approximately semicircular or C shaped spring, lying within the collar 5 and secured thereto at its middle portion by rivets 9 or any preferred means. The ends of the spring press outwardly, and hold, respectively, two diametrically opposite latches, 10 10. Each latch consists of a small segmental block of metal in the outer face of which is cut a narrow, relatively deep, circumferential groove 10 this groove being at the proper height and just wide enough to receive the inturned lip 4 of the coupling-ring 3 on the hood. To permit the upward movement of the latch-pieces when the font is being attached to the hood, the latches are each formed with a bevel or incline, 10 which is engaged by said lip 4, the latches being thereby sprung inwardly until the latch grooves come into register with said lip, which enter them, the latches being sprung outwardly by the resilience of the spring 8. The latch grooves prevent either up or down movement or vibration of the font, and have no excess depth, but preferably are out to a circle slightly larger than the inner edge or diameter of the lip 4. The object and result of this construction is a very firm and tight fit between said lip and the latch grooves, and hence an anti-rz'rttling engagement between the lamp font and the hood.

For disengaging the latches from the lip 41 when about to remove the font from the hood, each latch is provided with an outwardly projecting shank 12 provided with a head 12; the shanks passing through slots 13 in the collar 5. Inward pressure upon the heads 12 will of course disengage the latches so that the font may be removed.

It is a desirable feature of this coupling that, when screwing the burner into the font, it is immaterial where the wick-stem 1 1 stops when the burner is tight. This is due to the fact that the font is attachable to the ring 3 in any rotary position to which it may be turned.

As shown in Fig. 1, the coupling ring 3 is provided with a narrow vertical slot, through which the wick-stem 14 passes, which being above the collar 5, the latter need not be cut away at any one point.

I claim as my invention:

1. The combination with a lamphood and font, of means for connecting the two comprising a depending coupling ring secured to the bottom of the hood and provided at its lower edge with an annular substantially continuous inturned lip, an upstanding oilretaining collar secured to the top of the font and within which the main portion of the coupling ring is adapted to telescope, a spring-pressed latch mounted within said oil-retaining collar, having an upwardly and inwardly inclined or beveled strike portion and a cross groove below the strike portion adapted to receive the inturned annular lip, a press-button extending through the 01lretaining collar and engaging said latch to release the latter, a wick-actuating stem con nected with the burner of the font and extending thence radially outward in a plane above the u per edge of the oil-retaining collar, and a s ot in the coupling collar extending from its lower edge u wardly to a point above the upper edge of t e oil-retaining collar and receiving said wick-actuating stem, whereby the angular position of the hood relatively to said wick-actuating stem is determined but the coupling collar is adapted to engage with the latch in any position of rotative angular adjustment.

2. The combination with a lamphood and font, of means for connecting the two com prising a depending coupling ring secured to the bottom of the hood and provided at its lower edge with an annular substantially continuous inturned lip, an upstanding oil retaining collar secured to the top of the font and within which the main portion of the coupling ring is adapted to telescope, a C- spring secured to lie within said oil-retaining collar and carrying at each end an upstanding latch, each of said latch members being provided with an upstanding and inwardly inclined strike portion and immediately below its strike portion with a transverse notch of less depth than the radial width of said inturned annular lip of the coupling collar, press-buttons connected with the respective latch members and extending radially through said oil -retaining collar to points above the bottom thereof, a wick-actuating stem connected with the lamp burner of the font and extending radially outward therefrom in a plane above the up er edge of the oil-retaining collar, said coup ing ring being provided with a slot extending from its lower ed 'e upwardly to receive said stem, substantia ly as described.

RICHARD H. WVELLES.

Witnesses FRANK L. BELKNAP, EMILIE Rosn. 

